


Little Bit Lost Without You

by CreatePeaceFromChaos



Category: GetBackers
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Presumed Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28999758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatePeaceFromChaos/pseuds/CreatePeaceFromChaos
Summary: On a retrieval mission gone astray, Ban and Ginji are faced with the very real possibility of losing each other.(Brought over from my ff.net account and edited heavily for the repost)
Relationships: Amano Ginji/Midou Ban
Kudos: 4





	Little Bit Lost Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "This Ain't A Love Song" by Scouting for Girls.  
> I wrote this way back in 2010 (originally posted on ff.net in September 2010), and recently got a bunch of notifications that people have been favouriting it, so I figured it would be a good one to bring across. I may or may not bring other oneshots across, I haven't decided yet.

Amano Ginji could do nothing but stare at the spot from which his partner had disappeared. He could hear his friends – Shido, Emishi, Kazuki, Juubei, all of them – calling to him, telling him it was time to go, that they had to leave, but he couldn’t make himself move. All he could do was stare at the empty air where only moments ago his lover had stood.

Any other time he would assume he’d been caught up in Ban’s use of his Jagan, but… Ban had already used it three times in the past twenty-four hours.

“Ginji, come on, we have to go!” Himiko shouted, reaching him and grabbing his arm to tug roughly. He swayed, but didn’t move. “Dr Jackal, help me here!”

Ginji didn’t even blink as Akabane picked him up – something that worried the others much more than they’d ever admit – and Himiko dashed away her tears roughly before flinging a bottle of her flame perfume at the remaining mercenaries.

As their screams filled the air, Akabane passed Ginji’s almost comatose form up to Juubei and Shido, and then helped Himiko up into the truck before turning back to the scene of their fight.

“Dr Jackal,” Himiko began, but Akabane just glanced back at her and continued moving away.

“I will find his body, Lady Poison, if nothing else. Do take care of Ginji, won’t you?”

The truck door closed, and Maguruma revved the engine as he took off at high speed.

Akabane didn’t stay to watch them go, simply walking towards the edge of the cliff from which Midou Ban had fallen.

It would be highly disappointing if the brunette had died so easily. Such a waste of a skilled opponent.

In the truck, swaying with the motion of the vehicle but otherwise remaining completely still, Ginji sat alone. He stared straight ahead at nothing while Himiko and the former Volts whispered together worriedly. Ginji didn’t hear them, his mind instead replaying what he had just seen over and over again.

Ban’s shocked face as the four bullets impacted his torso.

The almost slow-motion fall backwards.

And the disappearance of his limp form over the edge of the cliff.

Ban was gone. His beautiful, strong, fiery lover – gone. How could he be? How could Ban let himself die, just like that? How could he just _leave Ginji_ like that?

Ginji closed his eyes finally, leaning his head back against the wall behind him, and allowed himself to cry silent tears.

Ban…

Ban coughed raggedly as he dragged himself – slowly, painfully – up over the rocks lining the base of the cliff he’d just fallen off. He could feel the bullets being ever-so-slowly pushed back out of his body, and he could also feel his broken ribs and legs realigning themselves at a snail’s pace. He’d be fully healed in about twenty-eight hours, give or take, but he needed to warm up before he went into shock, or he could still die from his wounds. If he went into shock, his body would slow right down, and he could easily bleed out.

A look around revealed the existence of a small cave, not too far away, and Ban slowly dragged his aching, broken body inside. There was some driftwood, mostly dry now, which had been washed in with a high tide, and Ban pulled himself close enough to it that when he sat up and leaned against the wall it was just within his reach. He could work with that.

Hopefully Ginji was alright. Ban just needed to heal and get back to his silly partner before the former Lightning Emperor went insane again.

Akabane looked down the cliff at the crashing waves, his disappointment growing when he found no sign of Midou Ban. He had hoped for some kind of clue towards the Jagan-user’s survival, but he could see nothing so far.

“Such a shame,” he muttered again, and then went off in search of a safe – or mostly safe – route to the bottom of the cliff. The least he could do for the ray of sunshine personified that was Amano Ginji was retrieve his lover’s body.

Ten long hours later, at the Honky Tonk, Paul watched on sadly as Natsumi and Hevn covered Ginji’s hunched shoulders with a warm blanket and carefully placed a pillow beneath his head.

“Chief?” Natsumi asked quietly, catching Paul’s attention. He tried to smile, to reassure her, as he responded.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think… do you think Ban is really dead?” she asked, tears forming in her eyes. Hevn wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently.

“No,” Paul murmured, removing his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. “Ban won’t die so easily.” Paul knew, better than anyone else here, just _what_ Ban was, though it was up to the brunette in question to tell his friends his truth. “He’ll be back, kid. You’ll see.”

Ban sat shivering by his small, magic-made fire, groaning quietly every now and then as a fragment of bone found its proper place and healed there. He’d managed to dig out three of the bullets over the past half-hour or so, but he’d have to wait for the other one to emerge on its own. It was in just the wrong place for him to be able to reach it himself.

“Well, well, Midou,” a very familiar but equally unwelcome voice chuckled. “You _are_ a hard man to kill, aren’t you?” Ban just groaned.

“Fuck off, Akabane,” he grumbled. “I’m not in the mood.” The black-clad man just chuckled again, moving from the shadows to sit gracefully across the fire from Ban. The Jagan-user glared for a moment, then gave up with a grumble and gingerly leaned his head back against the rock behind him.

“Your friends think you are dead, Midou Ban,” Akabane commented after a moment of silence.

“That’s insulting,” Ban grunted. “How’s Ginji coping?”

“He seemed to be in shock.” Ban winced. Damn it, he’d hoped his lover would’ve realised he was harder to kill than that, by now. “I must admit,” Akabane continued, “I am quite curious as to how you survived such a fall. Not to mention your wounds…” Ban scowled.

“That’s none o’ your business,” he growled. “What’re you doing here, anyway?”

Akabane gave one of his creepy smiles.

“Why, I’m here to return you to your dear friends, of course.”

“Cut the crap,” Ban snapped, and then groaned again as the final bullet fell from his chest finally. “Fuck, that hurt.”

“Intriguing,” Akabane commented, earning himself a glare. “When you are able to walk, let me know.”

Ban grumbled incoherently, and resigned himself to the other man’s company until he was healed.

The following afternoon, a full twenty-two hours after Ban’s near death, the still-hurt brunette climbed to his feet while Akabane watched on in silence.

“What are you waiting for, an invitation?” Ban snapped at him when he didn’t move, just watching Ban took a stumbling step away from the wall. “Get moving!”

“My, you _are_ in a bad mood today,” Dr Jackal smirked. Ban just gestured rudely and began making his way – slowly, painfully, shakily – towards the cave entrance.

Natsumi looked up from the coffee she was making when she heard a whimper from Ginji, who was still slumped in one of the corner booths. The blonde was asleep again, having woken earlier that morning from a nightmare that had left him in tears, and Natsumi frowned worriedly when he whimpered again.

“Leave him,” Paul murmured when the girl went to move towards Ginji. Natsumi glanced up at her boss in confusion.

“Chief?”

“He needs to sort his nightmares alone,” Paul told her quietly, his face sad. “Ban will be back soon, though. You’ll see.”

Natsumi nodded, and then glanced towards the door when it opened to reveal Shido and Madoka. Hopefully their presence would help when Ginji woke up.

Pain shot through Ban’s mostly-but-not-completely healed legs as the terrain below his feet changed from slightly-soft sand and mud and grass to the unforgiving hardness of concrete. He almost collapsed at the sudden spike of pain through his legs, but Akabane wrapped an arm around his torso and stopped the near fall. Ban couldn’t find the energy to snap; he was so _tired,_ and he just wanted Ginji more than anything else.

“We are only a few hours away from the Honky Tonk, provided you can walk,” Akabane said calmly. “Unless you wish to call for a ride, we should be there by midnight.”

“I’m fine,” Ban growled, forcing himself to stand without Akabane’s physical support. He didn’t need a fucking _ride_ , he just needed Ginji. (The pain _may_ have been interrupting his decision-making process, but he would never admit to it.) “Let’s keep moving.”

Six pm came and went at the Honky Tonk Café, with Hevn, Emishi, Kazuki, Juubei, and Himiko all stopping in at various points throughout the afternoon to check on Ginji. They all stayed when Paul promised dinner, all quietly wondering where Akabane was while they kept an eye on the former Lightning Emperor.

“Do you think he found him yet?” Himiko whispered, looking out the window at the darkening sky while Natsumi and Paul gently bullied Ginji into eating something.

“I don’t know,” Hevn murmured. “I hope so… but at the same time I desperately wish there was no need.”

“I know what you mean,” Himiko agreed quietly, and they lapsed into silence once more.

Akabane was very, very good at hiding his reactions when surprised or shocked, so when Ban started walking on his own, only an hour or so away from the Honky Tonk, he didn’t let his surprise show on his face or in his eyes. He simply kept pace with Ban, eyeing his apparently healthy form curiously. Despite the slight trembling of the blue-eyed man’s limbs every so often, he seemed perfectly healed.

It was strange, curious, and – in all honesty – a little alarming. _If Midou can recover so swiftly from four near-fatal bullet wounds,_ Akabane wondered, _as well as a fall from a rather high cliff, then what else might he be capable of?_

“I am most curious as to how you healed so swiftly, Midou Ban,” he said finally, earning a glare from the notoriously private man.

“It’s none of your business!” Ban snapped.

A roll of thunder interrupted him before he could say anything more, and Akabane almost thought he saw _dismay_ on Midou’s face when he looked up at the overcast night sky. “Damn it…” Midou muttered, and shut his eyes with a look of resignation as the heavens opened and it began to rain.

To Akabane’s shock, Midou slumped and had to lean against the wall of the nearest building. He looked paler than before, much tireder and weaker than he had appeared to be only moments earlier. He attempted to push away from the wall, likely to keep moving, but swayed and almost fell.

Akabane reacted quickly, catching him around the chest and then tugging one of the Jagan-user’s arms over his shoulders when he made no protest. He started helping him limp along the road, along the shortest route to the Honky Tonk, and did not speak of the sudden display of weakness.

They stumbled on in silence, the rain continuing to pour.

Ginji woke when it started to rain, blinking sleepily at those present and looking around before the memory of the previous day hit him. Ban wasn’t there. He wasn’t there, and he wasn’t coming back…

“Gin?” Hevn asked softly, touching his arm, and he turned sad golden-brown eyes her way. Hevn made a sad little noise and hugged him tightly, her heart aching for the young man and his sorrow over his loss. Ginji just leant his head against her shoulder, closing his eyes as tears slowly leaked down his cheeks. The former Volts, along with Paul, Himiko, and Natsumi, watched sadly for a few moments before the Volts quietly took their leave, knowing all too well that Ginji wouldn’t want them watching his grief.

“I don’t want to be awake,” Ginji sobbed quietly, burying his face into Hevn’s shoulder and finding what little solace he could in her comforting embrace. “I wish… I wish…”

“I know, sweetheart,” Hevn whispered sadly, tightening her arms around him as he shook with his sobs. “I know.”

A bit over an hour later, Himiko left with a promise to be back the following morning, which Ginji absentmindedly acknowledged even as he continued staring out the window at the pouring rain. Hevn spoke quietly to Paul as Natsumi cleaned the coffee cups in worried silence.

They had yet to hear anything from Akabane, and he had yet to make an appearance either with or without Ban – or Ban’s body. Ban hadn’t showed up of his own volition either, hadn’t appeared as if nothing had gone wrong to cuff Ginji around the head gently with one of his sly smirks and a drawled ‘what are you moping about now?’

It was starting to worry Natsumi that they’d heard nothing, yet Paul – and now Hevn, she noticed – seemed to just be waiting for something.

Or perhaps… some _one_.

Ban was exhausted by the time he and Akabane reached the Honky Tonk, but he _needed_ to find Ginji before he worried about his own exhaustion and how cold he was.

“Just get me inside,” he grumbled to Akabane when the usually rather insane man looked at him questioningly. Akabane chuckled and pushed open the café door silently, assisting Ban through the doorway just as he’d helped him walk for the last hour-and-a-bit.

“I’m sorry, but we’re clo— _Ban!”_ Natsumi shrieked in surprise and delight, rushing out from behind the counter to fling her arms around Ban in a frantic hug. “We were so worried!”””

“Need to breathe, kid,” Ban managed, and Natsumi released him with a sheepish smile. Ban looked past her, past Hevn and Paul, and stared straight at Ginji. The blonde’s eyes were hugely wide, shiny and red from his tears as he stared at Ban.

“Ban?” Ginji breathed, and Ban pushed himself away from Akabane to take a step towards his lover. Ginji got to his feet, walking over to Ban as if in a daze. He reached out and touched Ban’s cheek hesitantly, as if expecting him to disappear the moment he tried it.

The other four watched in silence, apparently completely forgotten as the lovers reunited.

“It’ll take more than falling off a cliff to kill me,” Ban said quietly, without most of his usual snark, and Ginji’s face lit up. He hauled Ban into his arms, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed with relief. Ban just melted against his lover, letting Ginji’s tight embrace hold him up, and closed his eyes as he revelled in being with his Ginji once more.

Paul smiled slightly and politely asked Hevn if she minded giving Natsumi a ride home, as it was getting rather late. The blonde woman agreed instantly, understanding his motives and agreeing that the couple needed to be left alone for a while, and promised to return in the morning to check up on them. Akabane just nodded a goodbye and left without a word; inwardly, he made a note to himself to find out more about Midou Ban. Paul locked the café doors and closed all the curtains and blinds, and by the time he was done with his usual closing routine, Ginji’s shaking had eased.

Ban, in comparison, looked like he was about to fall asleep where he stood.

“You can use the spare room,” Paul said, causing Ban to blink sleepily at him. Ginji’s arms were still wrapped tightly around the slimmer man, his face buried in Ban’s hair. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Paul,” Ban murmured, making no attempt to move. Paul nodded and headed to his own room, leaving the two young men to their privacy.

A few minutes later, once Ban had managed to coax Ginji into the spare room they’d been offered, the blonde GetBacker held his lover’s face between his hands and stared at him almost desperately, as if expecting him to vanish at any second.

“I’m here, Ginji,” Ban murmured, staring right back at his lover and resting his hands on Ginji’s shoulders. He leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

“You’d better not,” Ginji tried to joke feebly, almost collapsing in his relief when Ban smiled. He drew him into his arms more, and revelled in the way Ban nestled against him.

“Let’s go to bed,” Ban yawned, smiling sleepily when Ginji kissed the top of his head. “I could sleep for days.” Ginji laughed weakly and, without losing _some_ form of contact with Ban throughout the entire process, got both of them out of their clothes, into sleepwear, and tucked beneath the covers of the bed.

Ban just fit his tired body right up against Ginji’s warmth, tucked his head beneath his lover’s chin, and smiled into his shoulder when Ginji wrapped strong arms around him firmly. He was asleep within moments, but Ginji lay awake for a while longer, one hand stroking Ban’s slightly damp hair while basking in being in his lover’s presence once more.

“I’m so lost without you, Ban,” he mumbled, burying his face in the brunette’s hair and inhaling his familiar scent. “Don’t leave me.” Ban murmured something in his sleep and then sighed and nestled even closer, and Ginji finally closed his eyes to let sleep encroach upon him.

He didn’t care how it’d happened; he was just glad it had. He had his Ban back.

**Author's Note:**

> Ban and Paul having history was slightly inspired by a version I read in a fic way back, but I can't remember the fic anymore and don't even know if it's still posted. If I remember/find it again, I'll edit this fic to include a link.
> 
> Edit: I found it! https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4066475/1/Getbackers-Remake


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